Day one

Alarm went off at 4.15am, we both woke with a jump and were both in the middle of a dream! Had slept quite well considering we got hooked watching Ocean's 11 on telly late last night, I think it didn't finish until after midnight! So to sum up.... got 4 hours sleep.

Dad collected us at 5am and took us to Aberdeen airport. Got luggage checked in and waited in departures until boarding time. Had a 20 minute delay leaving Aberdeen, not sure why, had good flight down with a cooked breakfast (was hungry by then) and one of the smoothest landings I have ever experienced at Heathrow!

Arrived at terminal 5, got transferred from building A to building B where all the jumbo jets are and waited at gate for boarding time. Managed to resist retail therapy... Boarded early, however two people didn't turn up for the flight so we were delayed while the luggage was off loaded. 20 minutes later we were on our way to JFK.

Had a very nice flight, had chicken and pasta for lunch and watched The Proposal starring Sandra Bullock, an episode of Friends and an episode of Big Bang Theory. Started reading one of my books. This one is called 'I heart New York'. It is based in Manhattan, so very inkeeping with the trip! The pressure got too much for me as far as the Green immigration Card goes. I made a mistake so needed to ask for another one, and to make matters worse the air hostess forgot, so I had to ask again. Got it right second time round. Phew!

Arrived at JFK, sunny warm day with light cloud. Waited an hour in the immigration line, but after we were allowed in we made it to the hotel with much ease. Got the airtrain to Jamica station, bought our metro card for pay for subway and airtrain fares, then bought our LIRR (long island rain road) tickets to get into Penn station, and timed it perfectly to catch the next train. 20 minutes later we were in the centre of Manhattan. Found the hotel easily and got checked in. Was expecting a tiny room, but is really a good size, has a telly and nice big comfy bed. Also had a view up to the Empire State Building which is really good.

Got freshened up then headed out to the streets... Walked down 6th Ave then cut across to see the Flatiron building, it is so narrow! Carried on down to Washington Square Park, took photos and absorbed the atmosphere, loads going on, street artists performing all over the park, and even loads of folk playing chess on tables in a corner of the park! Walked from there to Greenwich village to check out some Friends locations. This was really a lovely area, loads of cafes, tree lined streets, so so quiet, folk gathered together on their door steps chatting to each other. Just a lovely atmosphere. Really hard to believe that a few blocks over it is so busy and noisy! Walked up Bleeker St and came across the place that makes the cup cakes in Sex and the City, it was queued out the door! Took a photo for Rachel my sister in law who is a huge fan and continued on to 7th Ave and walked up until we came to Times Square.

Times Square. Well, the darkness was coming down so all the bright lights were shinning, bright lights everywhere! We found the Juniors Cheesecake restaurant, and we went to the take a way and bought two pieces of cheesecake. New York and carrot cake cheesecake. Being honest, the carrot cake wins hands down, the New York one is a bit more stodgy than I would have expected. I am thinking we will pay at least another visit as there are a few more flavors that were very tempting : )

By this time getting very weary so head back to hotel and here we are. Typing up in between spoonfuls of cheesecake.

Am thinking we should get some sleep now so we are refreshed ready for tomorrow!

Tomorrows plans are maybe Macy's or Empire State Building first thing after breakfast if we are up early. Madison Square tour late morning, the Intrepid Museum in the afternoon and will grab something to eat in the pier area to kill time until the twilight circle line tour which is at 7pm.

Have a nice day now

Fiona and Rich x

Well, the time has come! The cases are pretty much packed, the house is tidy. Just need to try and get some sleep tonight before a very early start tomorrow to get the red eye flight down to Heathrow airport before connecting on to JFK NYC.

Have got a loose itinerary planned which will be subject to change, but we at least have a basic idea where the things are that we want to do and can group things together so we don't end up zig-zagging across Manhattan all the time.

We should arrive about 1pm tomorrow and guess we will arrive at the hotel 2 or so hours later. We are using the airtrain at the airport then connecting on to the LIRR (long island rail road) in to Penn Station which is just a 5-10 minute walk from the hotel.

After we check in we plan to go to Macy's so I can get a good comfy pair of trainers to wear whilst here, and have a walk around Greenwich Village and get our bearings around the hotel. Will prob be a bit peckish so will pick up something to eat and then likely be ready for bed since we have a very early start. If we are wide awake we might check out doing a bus night tour of Manhattan, but we will see!

I have come across a website for Juniors New York Cheesecake, and my mouth filled with saliva when I saw the pic of the lovely creamy slice of cheesecake. There is a branch up in Times Square, so maybe we will pay it a visit.

It is Labor Day in America the day we arrive, which is a holiday to mark the end of the summer season, so the city may be a bit quieter. We are also going to keep an eye of the Empire State Building at night, as it is lit up with different colours to mark occasions of the day. I believe it will be red, white and blue on Monday to mark Labor Day. As our hotel is not far from the building will may pass it on the way back to the hotel each evening.

Anyway, I hope to update regularly at the end of a day when we get back to the hotel and I will do my best to do so! Now need to go and do last minute preparations and check that the passports are safely in the hand luggage and that I have infact packed pyjamas (something I have been known to forget in the past).

Hope everyone who reads this has a good week at work,

Fiona x

On the final stages of planning our trip to NYC now. Trip advisor and other various websites, plus a guide book has been a great help.

Only four and a half sleeps to go!

Going grandparent visiting tomorrow, have enjoyed pottering around this week enjoying the sunny weather and doing various jobs around the house.

Will maybe post our rough plan for when we get to NYC before we go

It's finished! Sorry for lack of updates over last few days, but we had been working away on the puzzle in any free moment.

No bits missing, and managed to get it all fitted together ok.

Now less that two weeks until we head off there for real. We did our online espa form this week too and I am pleased to report we have been approved for entry to the USA, phew!

On holiday as of next week, so will be planning and organizing more stuff then to make the most of our trip. Came across a website for juniors new york cheese cake, which is apparently one of the best you can get, and my mouth filled with saliva when I saw the picture of a lovely big slice of cheese cake.... I am thinking that may be our pudding every night we are there, as the take a way where you can get it is not very far from our hotel. Yummy!

Early night tonight as we did not get to sleep until after 4am this morning and was up just after 7am for work. There was no fear of falling asleep on the job today however as the workmen doing the refit were demolishing a granite brick wall today. Very very noisy and dusty!

Sweet dreams

Productive evening today! Didn't spend much time with the puzzle, but we now have nearly all the bits joined together, for the individual buildings anyway. Next job is to fit the roof parts together and then fits the buildings to eachother.

Also did housework and baked some biscuits this evening. Now ready for sleep!

Good evening.

Made a lot more progress with the puzzle this evening. After dinner walked the dog then got the ironing done so could settle down to it! Phil also came in past and helped for a bit too. I think he lost track of time, and stayed a bit longer than he intended! His help was appreciated though ; )

A few of the buildings are really beginning to take shape, and I would think by the weekend maybe this first part of the puzzle will be finished! Lets wait and see.









As you can see Hollie managed to get in to the photos this evening. She is not liking the puzzle so much, as she is not getting 'lap' time with us whilst doing it and usually goes in a huff on her beanbag instead. So much so she decided to trample over the bits tonight to mix them up. Dogs!!

Had a busy day today with work during the day, then food shopping tonight. Not much time left for puzzle at all, so just put a few bits together before bed. Here is photos of last nights progress though. Still a long way to go, but some buildings are beginning to take shape!





Got a huge pile of ironing to do tomorrow evening, but hope to fit in a bit more puzzle time tomorrow before bed. It is very relaxing and time flies whilst doing it.

Blogging has really fallen by the wayside for us, not very disciplined with updating regularly. However we have in the near future a trip to New York city and hope to update our blog daily whilst there.

To try and get back in to the habit, we are going to try and write a little over the next few weeks, mainly to post the progress of our current task to help us get our bearings in Manhattan once there. This is a puzz3D of Manhattan island, well, just really the lower Manhattan area I think going by the picture on the front of the box!

We started last night with the help of my brother also. He did most of the base while myself and Rich started to sort out all the bits. The puzzle comes is two halves to try and make it easier to do I guess, but is still a big task as it has over 3000 bits in total!

I will upload photos regularly to show progress. As you can see it is in the very early stages just now...










I think it will be very enjoyable to sit for an hour or so a night to do the puzzle to relax after a busy day! We will see how it goes anyway....

Off to try and put some bits together, will report back later

Hi

That another weekend flown past. Was a good one though. I was working Sat, very hectic day, then the Smiths and Granda and Grandma came up past after supper time to visit. Was fine to see them, had a cup of tea and a good chat and they left about 8.pm. Just watched a bit of TV after that and watched the GP qualifying from earlier in the day and did my cross stitch. Rich did a bit of study. Sunday was busy as usual. Since it was harvest the band was playing 9.30 and 11am services. It was the China GP this weekend, so that meant an early start, the alarm went off at 6am so we could watch it. Was a wet race, so the lead changed hands a lot of tims and ther was plenty of drama! After that it was time to get up for Church. I just went to the 9.30. Afterwards I asked mum and dad and Phil if thy would like to come for lunch. They were happy to, so decidied to make soup (yeterday was a very wet horrible day), except I did't have veg. Mum went and got carrots and cream cheese from her house as I had a onion, then we went back up the road. She also suppplied bread mix to I could put a loaf on. When the time came to chop the onion, it seemed I didnt have one after all, I walked to the shops to get and got totally soaked. Mum asked me to get more carrots but I forgot, my memory sucks.

Eventually the soup was made and the bread was baked and we had soup and some rice pudding also for pudding (also suppplied by mum).

In the evening me and Rich had a curry from the nazma in Inverurie, it was real fine, and today we were both off so went into Aberdeen so I could get my outfit for Claire's wedding and Rich could get his kilt ordered too. The first outfit I tried on was the one I went with, bit still looked around the shops a bit more before I went and got it. Rich is wearing a border grey tartan - looks a bit different but really nice.

Raining here again today, so now home with the heating on and not planning going out again today. Back to work tomorrow, but dog sitting this weekend, so very much looking forward to that!! Anyway, had a good week and will update again soon x

Hi. That is half the week over already! It is flying past. Had a very busy day at work yesterday, then had the season finale of lost, was good but still need answers!

Had a day off today since I am working this saturday. Was quite quiet just tidying around the house then Nick and Erin came for tea. Erin is eating solid food now, so we had mince and tatties. Went down well with everyone I think. We then went for a walk down to see mum, and Erin fell asleep the whole time we were there!

Anyway, that is the update for just now, will be in touch at the end of the week x

Hi there

Had a good weekend, nice pottering day on Saturday. Got a few jobs done round the house, went to a concert in the evening whci was very good.

Sunday I was working for an hour and then some of Rich's family came across. Was a lovely afternoon with Evelyn Grandma and Rach, then Russ and Mike joined us and we had dinner. 7 - the most we have had around the dinner table. Everyone seemed to enjoy their supper which was good.

I did some cross stich in the evening and relazed and Rich did some study.

Today was fine, quite busy. Spoke to Emma this evening for the first time in ages, was really good to catch up, then went for a walk since it was such a nice evening, very mild. Now off for a bath and an early night in preparation for the lost season finale tomorrow night!!

Later x

The Friday feeling!

Friday is great when you are not working the next day! Looking forward to a relaxing day off tomorrow after a busy week. Pouring with rain tonight, but hoping for another fine day tomorrow.

Claire and Stevens wedding is now less than a month away! Everyone seems to be organized with outfits apart from me, have been looking on the net tonight, will have to hit the shops sometime soon I think.

Going to see a welsh male voice choir tomorrow evening, not really our cup of tea but still think it should be good. Looking forward to it.

Anyway, that sounds like Rich is home from the practice so better go. Speak to you soon x

Overdue update due to request from little sister.

I was working Saturday, had a lovely day Sunday. Church, the coffee and a bagel, then gaden work for the rest of the afternoon. Ver warm day. Was lovely.

Monday Richard was away over night with his work. Had my first night alone at home since we got married, survived though. Phil kept me company!

Tuesday was another normal day, went over to Inverurie in the evening to see Claire in her wedding dress, she looked lovely. Now only 1 month to go! Rich got home safe, it was a bit of a wash out though, poured with rain so did not get to do the quad biking or anything.

Today was again pretty normal. Delivered phil his prison break dvds that we got for him then came home. Was a lovely evening for a walk. Then got some sad news, you just never know what is round the corner! Speak again soon x

We have both had a good enough day today. Usual mad dash Friday, I got home from work at 7pm and Rich left for the practice at 7.30pm, managed to have supper together in between though.

Good to see some coments, thanks for that. 11pm is a late night for me Linda, so no more light weight comments from you please, need to be fresh for the following days work! the average body needs 8 hours sleep to function porperly, and I would say I am pretty average.

I met Skye today, this is the dog that Rich and I are going to be looking after the first weeekend in October, she was lovely. Very kind temprament and very docile. Looking forward to having her stay while her owners are at a wedding.

Away to look for a good photo print to get for Rich's Christmas, looking for a good F1 action shot to get for the study. He does know about it as I have having such a hard time deciding he is looking too. You can get lost for hours!

Anyway, hoping to update again tomorrow

Good evening. We thought it was about time we got a hang of this blogging. Linda has been at it for the past3 years, and even dad seems to have posted for the last 3 consecutive days (pretty good, thought provoking stuff)! There is not nearly as much going on with us as with the two above bloggers, but we do have the odd thought that may be worth posting - no comments dad please!

Having a usual week so far, our routine has totally changed since moving house nearly 3 months ago, now much more active in the evenings. This evening was spent helping Rich's mum and dad do a few jobs at their house. Have been out walking the first 3 evenings this week, but very heavy rain today so not walking weather.

Revived my aspiration for the future today - I am hoping to invent the 140ml bottle of penicillin and flucloxacillin 125/5ml and 250/5ml, they currently only come in 100ml bottles, yet the dosage is usually 5ml four times a day for a week, therefore I have to make up two 100ml bottles (by reconstituting a powder with water) then measure out 140ml. So in the space of 10 minutes today I had to make up 6 bottles of antibiotics, nae great!

Our profile is looking quite bare at the moment, but we are hoping to build it up over the next few days.

Nearly bed time, will hope to update again tomorrow